We have to start early and we have to play,

We have to start early and we have to play,

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The entire world will be watching Glendale on Sunday as it hosts the Super Bowl and the legions of fans who are shelling out big bucks to see the big game.What may be not visible amid all the hoopla is a sobering reality about the Super Bowl host city: Glendale is suffering deep financial issues over its troubled effort to become a sports destination.Glendale bet big on professional sports in the last 15 years, spending millions of dollars on a hockey arena for the Arizona Coyotes and investing heavily in a spring training ballpark for the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Then the economy tanked, and the hockey team went through bankruptcy, with several different owners in recent years.The city has found stronger financial footing since then and its bond rating has improved markedly, but not without having to raise taxes, trim 25 per cent of the municipal workforce, cut back on paving projects, and reduce hours at municipal swimming pools and libraries. The 9.2 per cent sales tax that shoppers and diners pay in Glendale is among the highest in the state.To fiscal conservatives, Glendale serves as a cautionary tale for suburban cities across the United States that want to throw public money at professional sports projects.Overall, its a bad move for cities, said Kurt Altman, general counsel for the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, which fought Glendale over its enticements to the hockey team. As much as they say its going to make the city a destination, it just doesnt.Glendale is a city of about 250,000 people in the northwest part of the Phoenix metro area. The location where the Arizona Cardinals stadium and the Arizona Coyotes arena were built had been a dusty farm area. The agricultural influence is visible to people driving to games when they pass tractors and farm equipment in nearby fields.As the Coyotes and Cardinals sought new facilities in the early 2000s and efforts failed to build them in other parts of the Phoenix area, Glendale stepped in. The city helped pay for the Coyotes arena with $167 million in bonds in 2003, and as the hockey teams finances began to fade during the recession, Glendale went all-in to keep the team in Arizona. The city dished out $50 million earlier this decade to keep the team and continues to make annual payments toward the arena, but the money it is getting in return has not met expectations.The football stadium was built in 2006, but Glendale was not on the hook for the costs of the $450 million retractable-roof facility. It was funded primarily with new taxes on car rentals and hotels in the Phoenix area, but that financing hit a snag last year when a judge ruled that the car rental tax was unconstitutional, leaving a major funding source for the Super Bowl venue in jeopardy. The issue is still being argued in the courts.Glendale is far from alone. Cities and states nationwide have long struggled with how much public money to spend on stadium projects. The effort to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings became embroiled in controversy over a financial commitment by the state that opponents said was excessive. The St. Louis Rams are at the centre of a debate over whether to spend public money on a new stadium. Topeka, Kansas, is immersed in a fight over a motorsports track that has drawn comparisons to hockey in Glendale.As he navigates the financial situation, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers returns to a maxim he has repeated many times in his life: Im not living in the past. Im just paying for it.In the case of the Super Bowl, he believes the city is paying dearly. He said Glendale will actually lose a couple million dollars by hosting the event. Its spending huge amounts of money on overtime and police and public safety costs for the Super Bowl but not getting much back.Super Bowl visitors are mostly staying in Phoenix and Scottsdale and only showing up in Glendale on game day, meaning the city wont see much of a boost in tax revenue. And the city was hoping the state would reimburse Glendale for its police overtime costs, but lawmakers have scoffed at the idea.Weiers said it pains him that the city had to cut services and lay off workers, but the moves were necessary to ensure financial solvency. He said the outlook has improved in the last year, a far cry from a couple years ago when Glendale was in jeopardy of joining the likes of Detroit in the category of municipal bankruptcies.I have to believe that if 1 is perfect as things could be and 10 was bankruptcy, Id say we were a strong 8, Weiers said. We never had to go there, and I strongly believe we wont have to go there.___Follow Josh Hoffner at http://twitter.com/JoshHoffner. Custom Atlanta Hawks Jersey . SCA Promotions has sought to reopen a 2006 settlement paid to Armstrong since his 2013 admission to using performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career to win the Tour de France. The arbitration panel that first approved the settlement agreed to reconsider the case, and a Dallas judge last week rejected Armstrongs attempts to stop it. Pete Maravich Hawks Jersey . Play hard, play tough and play rough. 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Tickets for the Wednesdays game will be honoured for the 1:05 p.SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Richard Sherman offered one final challenge to San Francisco: I told their sideline if they threw it my way Id end the game.He did exactly that — just like last time.Sherman provided the moment of the game against the 49ers once again, a mere 10 months after his touchdown-saving deflection in the NFC championship that sent the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl.Sherman set up the only touchdown with another key defensive play in this heated rivalry, then made a second interception with the 49ers driving late, and the Seahawks ended a five-game losing streak on San Franciscos home field with a 19-3 win Thursday night.The second one was pretty entertaining. I was laughing the whole time, Sherman said. They threw it. I said, Way to be, way to be.The brash cornerback offered plenty without opening his mouth, too: Blowing kisses to the crowd, then putting a finger to his lips to make the hush sign before waving goodbye.Steven Hauschka kicked four field goals and the Seahawks stout defence held Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree in check as Seattle (8-4) overcame 14 penalties for 105 yards, including an offensive pass interference that negated a touchdown.Russell Wilson passed for 236 yards and thoroughly outplayed Kaepernick, who had one of his worst performances for the 49ers (7-5) in a game with high stakes for the teams playoff hopes. And they play again in 17 days.My teams all together, we are buddies. Its a hard thing to do, winning on their turf, Wilson said. The NFC is not easy to win against. We are excited about that opportunity.After his second pick, Sherman looked at those fans still remaining in half-empty stadium on a Thanksgiving night and waved. The Seahawks won by the identical score they beat first-place Arizona five days earlier.Kaepernick was 16 for 29 for 121 yards and the 49ers were outgained 379-164.Sherman and Crabtree were at the centre of the decisive play in Januarys NFC title game, when Sherman deflected a pass headed his way in the end zone and Malcolm Smith intercepted it with less than a minute remaining to seal the Seahawks 23-17 victory. Sherman later called Crabtree mediocre.San Franciscos offence might have earned that distinction after its latest dud snapped the Niners three-game winning streak.When the word mediocre came up, Sherman said that distinction went to their fans for vulgar name-calling throughout the game.You never have to resort to name-calling, said Sherman, who said a bottle was thrown as the Seahawks exited.ddddddddddddsked about Crabtree on Thursday, Sherman smiled and quipped: History? What history?He said he was throwing to the open man. He didnt care who was out there, Sherman said about Kaepernick. I was the open man.In the waning moments with thousands of red seats already empty, 49ers CEO Jed York posted on Twitter: Thank you (hashtag)49ersfaithful for coming out strong tonight. This performance wasnt acceptable. I apologize for that.The 49ers were held to three points or fewer for the first time since a 29-3 Week 2 loss at Seattle last year.We only had three points. We have to start early and we have to play, Crabtree said. Thats all we have to talk about.Seattle sure looked comfortable in its first trip to new $1.3 billion Levis Stadium. It helped that the Seahawks quieted a relatively subdued home crowd.Sherman got things started when he intercepted Kaepernicks deep third-down pass on the right sideline in the first quarter to help set up Wilsons 13-yard touchdown pass to Robert Turbin. A wide-open Turbin easily took the ball down the left sideline on a pretty catch-and-run before beating cornerback Chris Culliver into the end zone.Hauschka kicked field goals of 21, 36, 35 and 46 yards.Phil Dawson provided San Franciscos lone points on a 40-yard field goal late in the third.Sherman had the fourth two-interception game of his career with his 22nd and 23rd picks since 2011, most in the NFL. It was 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh who turned him into a defensive back at Stanford.Sherman nearly had another late in the first half, when Seattle outgained San Francisco 202-71. The 49ers were held to 23 yards rushing and shut out in the first half for the first time this season.Weve got to reboot, come back and win them all, Harbaugh said.In a lighthearted moment before kickoff, Harbaughs black hat blew off during the national anthem and landed on the lowest white stripe of a flag that covered the entire field. A San Francisco staffer quickly retrieved the cap just in time as the flag was being rolled up.NOTES: Wilson had a 118.8 passer rating to Kaepernicks 36.7. ... Crabtree hurt his left knee 56 seconds into the game after landing awkwardly on his left side following a 5-yard reception on which he was tackled by S Kam Chancellor. ... 49ers DT Ray McDonald injured a finger.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFLwholesale jerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '